Smashed Up Chicken

You might recognise the title of this recipe from one of our earlier books. It makes a little chicken go a long way and was a great favourite, but quite high-calorie. So we’ve tweaked and fiddled it and got it down to a reasonable level for our new svelte selves. We’ve cut down on the fat content, reduced the amount of pasta a little and upped the veg — and it still tastes the business!

Ingredients

4 skinless, boneless chicken thighs

1 tsp olive oil

200g button mushrooms, wiped and quartered

1 leek, trimmed and sliced into rounds

100ml white wine

125ml chicken stock

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 tbsp fresh tarragon, finely chopped

1 tbsp lemon juice

freshly grated zest of 1 lemon

2 tbsp capers (rinsed and drained)

2 tbsp low-fat crème fraiche

handful of flatleaf parsley, chopped, to serve

flaked sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

PASTA

200g pasta (penne, fusilli – whatever you like)

1 tsp olive oil

1 tsp chilli flakes

1 garlic clove, crushed

COOKING INSTRUCTION

Put a chicken thigh between 2 pieces of cling film and beat it with a rolling pin until thin. We really do want you to smash the chicken to bits, so don’t be shy. Peel off the top layer of cling film and pull the chicken off in thin strips or ribbons. Repeat with the remaining thighs and season the chicken with salt and pepper.

Heat the oil in a non-stick frying pan. Cook the strips of chicken over a high heat until they are turning golden brown and just cooked through – this shouldn’t take more than a couple of minutes, as the chicken strips are so thin. Take the chicken out of the pan and add the mushrooms. After a couple of minutes of cooking, they should start giving out some liquid. At this point, add the leek and sauté both together until the leek has started to soften.

Add the wine and stock to the pan and bring to the boil, stirring constantly to make sure nothing sticks to the bottom. Continue to cook to reduce the liquid and finish cooking the leek, then add the garlic, tarragon, lemon juice and zest. Cook for another 2 minutes, then add the capers.

Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the crème fraiche. Put the chicken back in the pan and warm it through again on a gentle heat. Check the seasoning.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta in plenty of salted, boiling water according to the packet instructions. Heat the olive oil in a separate pan, add the chilli flakes and garlic, then cook for just a minute. When the pasta is done, drain it well, then toss it in the chilli/garlic oil. Mix the chicken with the pasta and serve with plenty of chopped parsley sprinkled on top.

TIME TO SHED SOME TIMBER?

If this has inspired you to shed some timber then why not head over to our Weight Loss Calculator. Step on those scales and then pop your details into our Weight Loss Calculator. We’ll let you know how we can help.